After working on Walking with Dinosaurs we thought Walking with Beasts would be a little easier. However this was not the case, as the creatures we were asked to make became bigger and bigger, and in contrast to the dinosaurs, hairier and hairier! In all, the process became more complex. In addition to the difficulties of furring such large beasts, we also found more animatronic work was needed to produce a greater range of facial expressions than was needed for the dinosaurs, to make the mammals more believable to our critical eyes.

Finally came the difficulty of getting the animatronics ready and in a state to be transported to locations in the far-flung reaches of the world, avoiding a rainy season here, a winter there. Heading for the snows of the Yukon in Canada with a full-sized mammoth only to chase the snow across the state as it melted. All of these things made the animatronic build schedule a very interesting schedule.

All of the animatronic beasts were produced by Crawley Creatures and Associates. The amount of work required meant that our core team of seven grew to eighteen, and we also used additional support from several specialist out-workers. The majority of the team came from an Art College background, the experience of life drawing and figurative sculpting giving many a good knowledge of anatomy.

The process began by using the reference material provided by the BBC research team to sculpt the creatures in water-based clay or Plasterlene. The sculptures are then moulded in silicone and/or GRP (glass re-enforced plastic) to provide negative moulds. From these moulds a foam latex or silicone skin, an under-skull and body-form are produced.

The under-skull and body-form go to the animatronics mechy department, where radio controlled mechanisms are built from scratch to move eyeballs, eyebrows, noses, ears whiskers, arms and legs etc. All these movements are then combined when the model is operated to create snarls, snorts and blinks etc.

Larger engineering work goes into producing Steady Arm rigs (similar to a Steady Cam rig worn by cameramen) that support the smaller heads during puppeteering. The mechys also produced the Sand Dolly, a counter balanced arm with universal movement. The Sand Dolly could be quickly assembled and positioned onto a light weight framework with Quad Bike all terrain wheels and was used for operating larger heads such as the Mammoth and Woolly Rhino.

Meanwhile another team transforms the foam and silicone skins into hides and pelts with flocked hair and fake fur, all of which must be dyed to the correct colours, pattern cut and applied to the skins by a special process to keep the skins flexible. Often the technicians have to apply the hairs one at a time, it is very time consuming and a great deal of patience is needed. The full sized mammoth took several months to make with several thousand pounds (Sterling) worth of Chinese Yak hair applied to the skin. However not all the beasts were hairy, and in contrast some needed a hide which only required a skilled paint job and a few whiskers and guard hairs punched in for good measure.

When the skin and mechanisms are complete the two elements are brought together with the skins being adhered to the mechanised skull and body. Once final touches and mechanical checks had been done the completed animatronic beasts were shipped to an exotic location for filming. Over the one and a half year duration of the project, we made and operated over forty different animatronic elements. We made a wide range of beasts, most of which were animatronic heads. For example the two Smilodons, the Sabre Toothed Cats, who fight it out in programme Five and the giant hopping, shrew-like creature Leptictidium, featured in programme One were all made for filming in close-up.

Waterproofed electronics were needed to help achieve the skilful underwater puppeteering of the early type of elephant Moeritherium. This enabled the film crew to achieve the close up shots of the head interacting with the surface of the water and feeding on the seabed around the Florida Keys, USA.

In addition several full sized bodies of creatures were made for shots involving interaction e.g. bodies being dragged along or falling to the ground and moving the dust or water, or being eaten by other creatures (CG) with the associated dripping blood and guts!. This can be seen in programme Six when a full-sized Irish Elk is hunted down by a Cro Magnon tribe and the Neanderthals butcher a Mammoth carcass for food.

The actors playing the Neanderthals wore Prosthetic make-up appliances designed by our make-up team. Prosthetics were used on their faces, also wigs, bad teeth (dentures) and beards in the case of the men were added to complete the look.

A prosthetic make-up appliance was also used on an actor for an extreme close-up shot of the male Australopithecus. The actor also wore full-sclera contact lenses that cover the complete eye.

The majority of animatronics creatures were filmed in real landscapes on location. Our work did not stop with the completion of the build and the packing of the crates. All of the creatures were puppeteered by two of our creature operators in sometimes-difficult conditions.

From Florida to Mexico, Java to Arizona, Brazil to South Africa and to the frozen Yukon Territory in Canada an array of beasts travelled, and were made to walk again with the help of Crawley Creatures & Associates and the BBC film crew.